Do you belong to the group of people that sprinkle their food with salt before eating? Well, you may be doing more harm than good to yourself as salt has been identified by medical experts as a major contributor to increase in blood pressure.
High blood pressure also known as Hypertension is estimated to affect one in every three adults above the age of 25 years according to World Health Organisation (WHO). This amounts to over one billion people that are hypertensive. In fact, the scourge has been identified as the number one cause of premature deaths and disability.
In reeling out this statistics, the WHO revealed that the prevalence rate of the disease is higher in Africa, at 46 per cent of adults, than in any other part of the world. Since Nigeria falls within the African region, it makes hypertension a serious health issue in the country, especially as it is estimated that 57 million citizens are hypertensive.
With a projected national population of about 170 million, 57 million people having the potential of being hypertensive should be a thing of great concern for everyone. Since high blood pressure has been dubbed a "silent killer" because of the tendency to cover its symptoms until when it is too late, ways to prevent or control it therefore becomes pertinent.
A medical practitioner with the Military Hospital in Ikoyi, Lagos and also member of a non-governmental organisation known as Doctors Reach-out Initiative, medical outreach facilitator and health educationist, Dr. Obiora Oji, described heart attack as a disease condition of the heart. "It is a life threatening condition in the sense that the blood vessel to the heart is compromised. If there is high blood pressure, it can cause a narrowing of the vessels supplying blood either to the brain which can lead to stroke or to the heart causing a heart attack."
Explaining further what high blood pressure is all about, the medical expert said: "Blood pressure is the force of blood on the walls of your blood vessels as blood flows through them. Blood pressure has two numbers, systolic and diastolic, and is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg). Systolic pressure is the force on the blood vessel walls when the heart beats and pumps blood out of the heart. Diastolic pressure is the force that occurs when the heart relaxes in between beats.
Blood pressure is considered normal when systolic pressure (the higher number) is less than 120 mmHg and diastolic pressure (the lower number) is less than 80 mmHg. People at risk for high blood pressure, often called prehypertension, have systolic pressure between 120 and 139 mmHg or diastolic between 80 and 89 mmHg. High blood pressure means systolic pressure is 140 mmHg or higher or diastolic is 90 mmHg or higher."
Medical experts have identified some factors that predispose an individual to be hypertensive. They include people whose family has a history of high blood pressure; you are of the African American descent or diabetic. It is also said that the risk of having hypertension increases with age. Heavy drinkers and smokers are susceptible to being hypertensive. Not being physically active or leading a sedentary lifestyle, being overweight and eating salty foods and foods with saturated fats are also some other factors.
Since the causes and conditions that predispose people to hypertension have been stated, it follows that taking steps to avoid them will lead to maintenance of healthy living. For instance, it is advisable to avoid tobacco smoking and harmful use of alcoholic drinks. High salt intake should also be reduced to its barest minimum as it has also been revealed to increase blood pressure, the risk of a heart attack and stroke.
Dr. Oji emphasised the need to sensitise people to reduce the way they consume foods rich in sodium (salt). "Salt is essential to our bodies. Normally the kidneys control the level of salt. If there is too much salt, the kidneys pass it into urine. But when our salt intake levels are very high, the kidneys cannot keep up and the salt ends up in our bloodstream. Salt attracts water. When there is too much salt in the blood, the salt draws more water into the blood. More water increases the volume of blood which raises blood pressure. The extra water also increases blood volume in the body and that requires your heart to work harder to move all that blood around, making your pressure go up," he revealed.
You are probably not aware of just how much sodium that is in your diet on daily basis. Considering that a single teaspoon of table salt, which is a combination of sodium and chloride, has 2,325 milligrams (mg) of sodium, many processed and prepared foods contain also sodium. Almost 80 per cent of the average person's daily salt intake comes from processed foods. If we ate only natural foods and limited the use of table salt, we would be able to eliminate excess salt in our diets.
According to the dietary experts, current dietary guidelines recommend that adults in general should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. At the same time, consume potassium-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables. However, if you fall under the high risk population groups for hypertension, you should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day.
Dr Oji advises that people should be careful of their salt intake as it aggravates the blood pressure. "It's not that you shouldn't take salt but excessive intake is what we have to guard against. The correct advice is that you should not eat salt in excess in addition to what has been added when the food was cooked."
However, medical experts have concluded that the key to either prevention or treatment of high blood pressure is detection through having one's blood pressure measured. It is only when people know their blood pressure that they can either control or treat it.
During the 2013 World Health Day which held on April 7 with High Blood Pressure as its theme, the Director- General of WHO, Margaret Chan stated: "Our aim today is to make people aware of the need to know their blood pressure, to take high blood pressure seriously, and then to take control", emphasising that knowing the blood pressure level is the first critical step to prevent and control hypertension.
Buttressing this point, Dr Oji stressed: "Following the silent nature of the symptoms associated with this disease, prevention of this problem is essential. This is because hypertension actually does not have a cure but it is a disease condition that is managed throughout the person's lifetime once it is diagnosed. It's not like malaria you treat and then expect it to go. You must take your drugs, monitor your BP in partnership with your doctor, who will know when to add some drugs or reduce the dosage if need be. It is really important that people appreciate that being diagnosed as hypertensive is not a death sentence, what it requires is your cooperation with your physician to make sure that you control this sickness. That your blood pressure is normal today does not mean it would not soar again tomorrow. Proper control and medication is essential. It is important that you keep taking your drugs and consulting your doctor to help put it under control."
The expert counselled that every adult should check their blood pressure on regular basis like once in three to six months, especially for people above 40 years, where the risk of hypertension actually becomes higher. But if you are hypertensive, you should check your blood pressure every week or fortnightly for maximum monitoring, he advised.
Hypertension can best be prevented by adjusting your lifestyle, proper dieting and exercising as key components. It is important to maintain a healthy weight, reduce salt, alcohol intake, and reduce stress.
National Mirror